Electrical



(No Model.) 3 Shets-'-Sheet 1.

D. F. SWEET.

ELECTRICAL GUT-OUT. No. 529,213. Patented Nov. 13, 1894.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

D. P. SWEET.

ELECTRICAL GUT-0H1 No. 629,213. Patented Nov. 13,1894.

] UNITED .STATES' ,IP TiiNT Drums;

DANIEL F. sWEETfoF GRAND, RAPIDS, MIoHIeAN.

' ELEGTRICAL our-our.

srnon ronrron {forming part'of Letters Patent No. 529,213, datedNovember is, 1894,

Applicationfiltdi'l'ulitl 9,1394. sentinel 514.020. '(llomudelb To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that l, DANIEL FRED SWEET,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids,.in the countyof Kent and State'of liilichigamhaveinvented certaiunew and usefulImprovements inElectric-Cut- O ut s, ofwhicl rthe following isa'epecificaev tion, reference being, had therein't'o' the accompanyingdrawings. This invention relates to an automatic cutout for electriccircuits, saidcut-out being; adapted to instantaneously break thecircuit u ponthe passagetherethyough of an abnorm al curren cgfi Theessential objects of the present inventron are to prevent'destructivedischarges at the contact plates when the circuit is broken and also torender the instrument more .deli-' cate 1n its ad ustment so that it maybe setto quickly respond to any desired predetermined strength ofcurrent, as more f ully' herement of the swinging "is mounted; 2, anelectro magnet mounted staj inafter set forth.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view showing the instrumentclosed andconnected up inacircuit; Fig. 2, a side'elevation of the same,showing'in dotted lines the moveframe upon the passage of a destructivecurrent; Fig.3, a detail plan of the upper portion of the swingingframe, carrying the movable contact plates; Fig. 4, a vertical sectionalview of the same, detail vertical sectional view showing the'latch andthe arm for releasing thesame. Referring to the drawings hynumerals,ldesignates the board upon which the instrument tionarilyupon a smallfnrme 3 secured to the" lower end of the board; and 4, a rocking arma--.ture pivotally mounted on frame 3 by means of screws 5 and providedwith a vertical arm 6, in the upper end of which is nicely jour naled aroller 7.

Pivoted ina plate as securcd to the'board- 1 directly to the rear of thearmature is an arm,

"9 carrying at its forward .end ablock 10,.

to normally bear upon the whose lower edge is sharpened andadaptedperiphery'of roller 7 above the journal of the same. This canedge carried by arm) is kept strongly pressed against the roller by aspring-ll, which bee-r's' upon thefront edge of" edownwardfextensionfrom the armaturejecting, pointer bars of this frangecar by the lowerone 'bring the armature nearer "pointer is moved down or up,

of arm 9, said extension resting in a vertical slot in plate 8.

The armature is adjusted omits pivotal bearing bymeans of a flanged cam12. pivoted. on the board alongside the plate 8 an'dbearing' against anarm, 13 extending inwardlyv arm 6 to which it is at- 12 carries alaterally-pro M which works overa grad, uated scale on the board andserves toindicate the-strengthjofuurrent at which the'i'nstrument is setto'oper te. l 'A vertical frantic l5 composed of two uptached. The cam"right bars and two 0 oss-bars 16, is pivoted '3, said frame" be 7 atits lower end-upon ame ing insulated from its piiots 17. The upright rythevmetallic contact plates 18' which are adapted to enter between thefingers of the stationary contacts 19,- car-1 ried by metallic holdersor plates 2(J 'secured to the board. llhisframe, is held in its ver-'tical position bymeans of the latch 21 pivoted in'a slot in plate 8 andadapted to engage overthe u pper end of .a catch 22 carried of thecross-bars 16. This latch 21 is lifted oi? thecatch to release the frameby means off-an inwardly-projecting arm 23 secured rigidly to the upperend-of arm 6. The arm, 23 is so adjusted that it strikes latch 21 andlifts it from'its catch the instantthe knife edge carried byfarm 9passes over the vertical-center of the roller, so that the instant thearmature is released from said.

arm 9 the verticalframewill also be released from the latch.

- It will 'be observed' thatby swinging the pointer or at m j 14; alongthe scale, the cam 12, through the medium of arms 1.3 and 6, will to-orfartherfrom according as said said arm 13 being normally held againstthe of the cam by-the action ofspring 11 and arm 9 which causes theknife edge to bear downthe poles of. the magnet,

inclined edge forcibly upon thoroller at' a point in from of x or beyonditsjournaland thereby tend to forcesaid arm 6 normally inward toward theboard. Before the poles of the magnet can draivthe' "armatu re down theattractive force mustouercome the resistance caused by the knife-edge ofhlocla 1Q pressing upon the rollerin'front .of the; center. of itsjournal; as isevident. 182

is therefore obvious that the point at'which the instru'ment'isset tooperate may be varied by simply adjusting the arm 6 (carrying-theroller) so as to bring the knife-edge nearer to or farther from avertical line drawn con-- from part 22, and then as the arm 6 is swungforward by the downward movementof the armature said arm strikesforcibl'y'against a stop 24 carried by the lower cross-bar ltiandquickly and forcibly throws down the swinging-frarne to the' 'positionshown indotted lines at A in Fig. It will alsoibe observed that afterthe knife-edge passes over the ceuport except at their upper ends.

.These' lower carbons are ter of the roller the pressure o'fjthe spring11 will tend to pre'sssaidroller 7 outward audl thereby assist thearmature inthrowing down the frame. I j f Alongsii-ie each'pairofcontact plates 18 and. 19 is arranged-a pair of supplemental carbon.contact. plates 25. The upper ends/of the stationary plates are clampedin sockets 26 formed on the sameplates warms contactplates 19, and saidplates areinclined down wardly and forwardly and ail e without suplhelower, movable plates or carbons 25 hear about midway their lengthagainst the. lower ends ofv the upper plates and are seen red at theirlower endsin sockets 27 ca-rried by independent shafts 28 journaled inthe swinging frame. kept normally pressed against the lower ends'of theupper plates by means of convolut'e springs. 29 secured on said shafts28 andco'nnected to the adjacent cross-bar 16. p The normal currentpasses th'lreugh the me tallic contact-plates, as they-present the-leastresistance," and through the upper part ofthe swinging frame,

the frame thereby forming a part of the circuit, but. when asufficiently abnormal current passes throughthe instru ment and theswinging-frame is released and. thrown downin the manner hereinbeforedeI scribed, the current ceases to pass through the metalliccontact-plates the. instant they are separated and-passes wholly throughthe -.carbon or supplemental contact-plates- It will, be observed thatby-the timethe metallic I contact plates havebecome disconnected, thespring-actuated carbon plates have swung forward far enough to'lie flatagainst the upper carbeus, as shown in dotted lines at'B' in Fig.2,andas the frame falls downward themoyable carbons. are drawn or sliddown upon the faces of the stationary carbon until they drop off thelower ends of. the same.

The object and advantages of this peculiar action of the supplementalplates are obvious. Thus throwing the current into the carbon contactplates relieves the metallic contact plates from destructive sparkingand materially retards the. abnormal current, as the carbon presents ahigher resistance; and by bring-- ing the carbons up fiat against eachotherat then sliding the contacting carbons apart endwise, theresistance is gradually increased the instant. the metalliccontactsseparateand until the carbons separate, by which time the strength ofthe current has been so-reduced by the increase in the length ofresistance medium that the discharge, if there be any at all, isreducedQtQr-fa harmless minimum. In this manner the heaviest currentsmay be sent through the instrument without causing noisy ordestructivedisch-arges a the contact plates, and herein-lieso'ne-"of the.QSSBDIZIBJ advantages of'the instrument...

The numeral 30'designates a 'pin securedin each of the shafts 28 andadapted to strike against the'upper crohs-bar 16 as soon as the movablecarbons slip off the uppercarbonsand therebyprevent the springs rotationsaid shafts farther than is necessary.

It will be observed that the action of the convolute springs not onlytends to keep the carbons in contact but also assists in throwing downthe swinging frame.

:A handle 31 is secured to the lower crossbar of the swinging frame inorder to lift it after it is throwu down, andasimilar handle on knob 32is'secu red to the-armature.v \Vhen the swinging frame drops down thehandle31 strikes againstand rests in a curved spring 33 secured'to thelower part of frame 3.

Itis understoodithatasolenoid is the equivalentof'a magnet i u thisconstruction and I do not therefore confine mvself to the use ofa'magnet.

Having thus fully describedmy invention, .what I claim'is.- p a 1. Acircuit interrupting-device consisting ofan electrical magnet respondingto the actionof anabnormal current, main contact plates and an armatureadapted to separate saidlmain, contact plates,and a pair of high-resistance supplemental contact platesadapted to overlap a .tl 1eir freeends and slide upon each other endwise and thereby increase theresistance gradually until they-separate and break, the contact, whichis after the separation of the main contact plates, substantially asand'for the 'purposedescribed.

2. The combination in an automatic .elec- -tric cut-out, and anelectrical magnet in the circuit, an armaturev therefor adapted to beactuated bythe presence of an abnormal current, main contact platesadapted to be sep arated bythe-action of the armature, and a.

pair'of supplemental carbon contact plates.

adapted-to receive and retard the current after the-separation of themain contact-plates,

- against each other said'carbon plates overlapping each other at theirfree ends and being normally pressed and adapted to slide apart endwiseto gradually increase the length of the resistance medium bet'oreseparation, substant-ially as described.

3. The combination, in an electric cut-out,

of the main contact-Plate movable part oarryingone of thecontact plates,a'pair of supplemental -high resistance contact-plates,

one-ofsaid supplementalplates being carried by said movable part andhaving its free end overlapping the free end of "the othersuppleniental'contact, and means for-normally press:

so cuit, an

predetermined abnormal current, main con-' tact plates in the circuitand adapted to be ing'the'overlapped ends of said supplemental contactplates together and holding them together as-they are slid apartendwise, as and for the'purpo's 'es setforth.

:4. Inan automatic cut-out, the-combina "Lion of an electrical magnetinthe main cire armature adapted to respond'to any.

separatedlby the action of the armature, and supplemental tact-plates,one oi said carbon plates being stationarily supported and-the otherbeing. movably supported at an angle to the sta-- 3.

tiona'ry plate and normally pressed against the free end-of the same,substantially as de-' scribed;

The combinat on of an electrical-magnet: in the main circuit, anarmature adapted to" be actuated by the pre'sence of/an abnormal currenta swinging frame adapted tobe actuated by said armature, maincontact-plates carried by said swinging-frame, supplemental carboncontact-plates, one of the carbon plates being supported 'stationarilyand hav: ing one end tree and the other carbon plate being carriedbyashaft journaled in the I frame, a spring for actuating said shaft and.lceeping the movable carbon normally pressed carbon contact-platesadapted to be separated subsequently to the main conagainst thestationary carbon, substantially as described.

- 6. In an electric, cut-out, the combination ofan-electro magnet, anarmature carrying an arm and pivotally supported, a roller journaled insaid arm, a'spring pressed arm car 7. In an electric cut-out, thecombination of an electro magnet, an armature carrying a roller andpivotallysupported, aspringpressed arm normally bearing on sai'd roller,

means for adjusting said armature and roller,

a vertical frame pivoted at its lower end and carrying contact-platesat-its upper end and adapted to be thrown. down a-nd'released, a latchengaging said-frame and holding it up,

an arm carried by. the armature and adapted to disengage said latch nponthe passage of anabnormal current, substantially as herein shown anddescribed. .8. In an automatic electric cut-out, the combination ofanelectro-ma'gnet in the main ciredit, an armature adapted to beinfluenced by the magnet, a movable frame or part carrying ahigh-resistance contact-plate, and adapted to be operatedby themagnet,'another high resistance contact-plate these plates in contactand sliding them apart as the contact is. broken, whereby the resistancemedium is'le'ngthened while-the" contact.

is being brok.en,-substantially as described.

iv adapted to lie on the. movable contatstplate, an means for holding.ln testimonywhereoflafix mysignaturei' presence of two witnesses. iDANIEL .F. SWEET Witnesses:

Maura S. TOOKER, Jomv W. GHAMPLIN.

